“Why is it a different place than yesterday?”

Darren asked with a guarded tone. He was concerned that they might be taken to another place by those who had other intentions. If he were alone, he could escape anytime, but Bryn was with him.

In contrast to Darren’s cautious voice, Jack answered cheerfully and lively.

“Yesterday, rumors about the carrots spread throughout the market. Everyone was saying they’ve never tasted such delicious carrots before.”
Unlike Darren’s tense and stern face, Jack, who turned around, had a bright and smiling face with no shadow.

Feeling sorry for unnecessarily being on guard and making a fuss, Darren took out a carrot from the bag and handed it to Jack.

“Here, it’s a gift.”

“Wow! Is this the famous carrot?”

Receiving just one carrot, Jack was delighted as if he had received a precious gift.

“Try it.”

Finding the child adorable, Darren took back the carrot Jack was holding and wiped off the dirt on it with his clothes.

“Eat only the clean part.”

Jack sniffed the carrot and, at the sweet scent that entered his nose, widened his eyes. Then, he took a bite of the part that Darren had wiped clean.

Jack chewing on the crisp, fresh carrot looked as cute as a baby rabbit.

“Wow! This is really delicious. It tastes just like an apple. Now I understand why the cat lady praised it so much.”

“Did the cat lady buy some too?”

“Yes. She bought five yesterday. Do you remember? She has a round face and curly orange hair.”

Even in the chaotic events of yesterday, Darren remembered the woman with the carrot-colored hair.

“I remember.”

“That lady runs a restaurant in the alley over there, and she praised it a lot. Maybe she’ll come to buy more today?”

Jack confidently spoke while munching on the remaining carrot. Darren took back the carrot from Jack and wiped off another part, ensuring it was clean.
Jack’s guidance led them to a place closer to the square. Unlike yesterday, when they laid the bags on the ground, there was even a small stall set up. It was quite a good spot to call it a street vendor.

“Is this the place?”

“Yes. The leader told us to set up here.”

Even the price for the street vendor permit was the same as yesterday.

“It seems our carrots are popular, so we got a good spot.”

Breen, taking carrots out of the bag and arranging them on the stall, said in an excited voice. As a result, people nearby started flocking to them.

“The young ones from yesterday are here!”

“Give me some carrots.”

“How much? I’ll take ten.”

“I want twenty!”

The crowd suddenly started shouting out orders.

In the end, the carrots sold out before they could even display them on the stall, and when it seemed like they didn’t have enough, people even offered to pay extra. Darren sold three carrots and received 170 pennies.

It was nearly twice the amount compared to yesterday.

Darren and Breen earned more money than yesterday. However, their expressions seemed even darker for some reason. Stella, not knowing the reason, looked at Darren intently. Darren spoke in a voice lacking strength.

“Princess, I couldn’t find the seed market you mentioned. It’s not open today. I’m sorry.”

“No, then when can we get them?”
“The merchants there mentioned that it should open this week, but we can only know the exact date tomorrow,” Jack said.

“I see. Good work. Were you worried because of that? What if the market didn’t open? It’s not your fault.”

The two, who had been prepared to face scolding for not completing the errand properly, finally relaxed their stiff expressions. Grateful for returning to Verdura Castle, they went back to their room.

Left alone in the room, Stella was enjoying a happy time counting the money earned over the past two days.

“At this rate, I’ll become rich soon.”

After deducting the commission, the total from yesterday and today was about 200 pennies. It was difficult for commoners to earn this much in a short period, even with farming.

It took less than a month from planting seeds to harvesting and selling. Moreover, the effort invested was not that significant.

Although she was of royal blood, Stella grew up outside the castle with her mother before entering to live. Therefore, Stella had a decent understanding of the cost of living.

At this rate, if she continued to save money, she thought she might soon find a way to break free from the bloodline curse or even leave the castle to live freely.

Stella proudly looked at the neatly arranged coins on the table and then scraped the money into an empty box.

“If I save until tomorrow, I might be able to exchange for one or two gold coins.”
Stella hoped to have a box filled not with copper-colored coins but with gold coins someday.

“Is this really something special?”

Ark, who had been watching Stella nearby, picked up a fallen coin from the ground and asked.

“Yes, it’s something special.”

“Really? Then should I bring it to Stella too?”

“What? A coin?”

The earth fairy wondered what use they could have for a coin.

“Oh, there are many of these in the ground. They’ve gathered them because plants don’t grow well due to the round, flat things that humans hide. Uhu gets angry, saying it’s troublesome, so I’ve collected them in one place.”

For a moment, greed flashed in Stella’s eyes.

‘Earth fairies don’t know the value of money. I’ll take all the money. But should I tell them? No, what use do earth fairies have for money? Uhu finds it annoying. I’ll clean it up like a pile of rocks. Even if I don’t take it, someone else will find it someday.’

Stella quickly and conveniently rationalized her thoughts.

“If you don’t need it, I’ll take it. I need it.”

Stella said with an expression that tried to look as ungreedy as possible.

“Alright! That’s great! I was worried about what to do with all that.”

Ark seemed visibly delighted, even clapping. Stella wanted to applaud as well, but she held back until the end.

At times like this, it was crucial to appear uninterested in material wealth. Stella smiled gracefully as if she were truly an elegant farmer.